Introduction

I am 'foodie' of sorts, though not in the 'buying only organic, shopping regularly at farmer's markets or keeping truffle oil in the kitchen cupboard' sense (this is not to say that I never buy organic or local and I would be lying if I said I had never picked up a bottle of truffle oil in the supermarket- I just didn't buy it.)

I am a foodie because I love food, I love cooking, I am fabulously unfussy; eating almost anything that anyone, anywhere has ever called food and usually enjoying it. (To my regret there is one big hole in this portfolio of gluttony and that is shellfish- not because I don't like but because I can't seem to tolerate.) 

The only two things I can think of that I have ever eaten and not liked are:
1/ that kind of fruitcake which is mostly a stiff sponge with just a little fruit in it- usually called farmhouse cake or something like that and
2/ those oriental snacks (rice crackers?) which come in various shapes, sizes and colours and are sort of sweet and sour, coated and shiny. I once had to rapidly remove from a room after putting some of those in my mouth at a social function.

My especial pleasure in food comes from trying new ingredients and new or surprising recipes, from making interesting and nutritious meals for my family at a reasonable cost and using superfoods of various kinds (grains, pulses, seeds, berries and oils) to boost and protect health.  I am particularly interested in food medicine though have never made a formal study of this. 

One thing the reader should be warned about is my opinion on fats- it is in many ways counter to current received wisdom.  I think the extreme 'polyunsaturated' hype of the 70s, 80s and 90s was misleading and possibly harmful.  For me butter is a superfood (I will write more about this before too long) though obviously to be used in moderation.  Olive oil- of course- a safe, safe, wonderful food-I don't need to say more about that.  For roast potatoes and pastry, dripping (or even lard) is my preference.
My feelings about fats are informed by two main sources, firstly my own experience of living in my body and observing what happens when I eat what and secondly, a little bit of knowledge obtained from study (HNC in Applied Biology (Dissertation on trans fats), BSc in Biomedical Science and currently studying for MSc Clinical Biochemistry) but I have a lot more I would like to find out from a scientific perspective if I ever get the chance. I am not going to say anymore about this right now as I can get seriously boring on this subject and it is not (I hope) going to be the main topic of this blog.

My intention is to write about some of the ways I solve the problem of feeding my family whilst satisfying my own need for interesting and varied food.  A lot of these will be very mundane but I do have some good recipes and am occasionally inspired to produce a memorable 'one-off' meal.  Also, I occasionally break my own rules (re polyunsaturates etc).